Sharon BegleySenior Science and Health Correspondent for Reuters

There are always stories behind the science stories--that is, human dramas that underlie scientific discoveries. Nowhere is that truer than in neuroscience, which has undergone a revolution over the last 20 years. While the previous dogma held that the adult brain is essentially fixed in form and function from the age of three, it is now clear that the brain can change its structure and patterns of activity throughout life. Renowned science journalist Sharon Begley has been writing about this paradigm shift for over ten years. Join us as Begley shares an astonishing story with implications for health, disease, and emotional balance featuring, among others, a scientist who thinks he can cure dyslexia, a blind Turkish painter, and the Dalai Lama.

Sharon Begley was the science editor and the science columnist at Newsweek from 2007 to April 2011 and is now the senior science and health correspondent for Reuters. From 2002 to 2007, she was the science columnist at The Wall Street Journal, and previous to that the science editor at Newsweek. She is the co-author of forthcoming book The Emotional Life of Your Brain, author of the 2007 book Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain, and the co-author of the 2002 book The Mind and the Brain. She is the recipient of numerous awards for her writing, including an honorary degree from the University of North Carolina for communicating science to the public and the Public Understanding of Science Award from the San Francisco Exploratorium.

Nature of Things 2012 is underwritten by the R. Harold Burton Foundation.